Custom Instruments, Tips, Tutorials and News

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How Reaktor Tips shopping works: upon receipt of payment, within minutes you will receive an automated email containing either decryption keys for the instruments you have purchased (Loupe, Mirage, ParamDrum) or a link to the instrument file (Chroma).

Note: As of November 2013, I have not released anything authored in Reaktor 5.9, so if you have 5.8 you’re good to go!

Loupe 2

Loupe 2 is a polyphonic looping slicer for quickly mapping arbitrary sections of a sample to different MIDI keys. More info here.

Loupe is self documenting through extensive tool-tips. None of the controls are too small or too fiddly. You can learn how to use it in minutes but I think you’ll find a million uses for it. This reflects my instrument building philosophy that an instrument should give you musical leverage without making you feel like you’re endlessly flipping switches on a room-sized computer from the 1960s.

It’s primarily intended for mangling melodic samples but percussion works too. Here’s what it sounds like:

Loupe 2 can be downloaded here. A password to unlock the archive is $20 USD and can be purchased here:

Chroma

Chroma is a performance oriented monosequencer and VA carefully tuned for ergonomic ease of use and glitch free operation in standalone and plugin mode. Slur features in Chroma match up with legato and glide features in the Gris-Gris synth to create a slinky sinuous note articulation. More info here.

Sequences can be created and controlled via mouse, MIDI, Konkreet Performer, TouchOSC and Lemur. Since there is now full OSC support in the Reaktor plugin version, you can do everything with Chroma in your preferred DAW that you can do stand-alone. A dream come true!

Chroma’s MIDI output can be used to trigger external synths as well, depending on the completeness of the synth’s MIDI implementation. Tested and fully working synths include NI Massive, NI Absynth, U-he Tyrell and Tal Noisemaker. Some synths may work perfectly for note sequences but not for slur and glide.

Chroma is 24.99 USD temporarily reduced in price to $19.99 and can be purchased and downloaded immediately. Remember, Chroma is a Reaktor ensemble and requires a full installation of Reaktor 5.8.0, not just Reaktor player.

Mirage is a granular sampler inspired by three things – the music of Tim Hecker, my laziness, and my disorganization. 😉 It’s sort of like a trapper keeper for ambient sampling. It lets you select an area of a sample to work with, then allows you to set your granular parameters, per-voice filter settings and pan, voice retrigger frequency, and other things – and crucially, it remembers the pitches you play and saves them with a snapshot when using the “Hold” button.

ParamDrum is a fun and fast way to create unique sounding beats in Reaktor. It’s based on three granular samplers with built in parameter automation and variable length and speed step sequencers. The value of a step gives the probability that the step will trigger as the sequence plays, creating endless variations.

It has a fun and fast workflow, and the ability to produce sequences that will surprise you as you create them. It’s not a one-button “tada, here’s your beat” randomizer, nor is it a traditional sequencer that expects you to painstakingly determine every detail. It’s a nice balance between the two. I put a lot of effort into the usability and workflow and I hope you’ll find it as much fun as I do to work with.